In  the  Matter 

OF  THE 

Proposed  Plans  and  Agreement  Between  New  York  Central 
&  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company  and  the  City  of 
New  York,  Affecting  Riverside  Park  and  the  North 
River  Waterfront. 


Report  of 

Committee  on  Legislation,  Law  and  Schools 

Appendix  Showing  Proceedings  Taken  for  the  Extension  and 
Preservation  of  Riverside  Park  in  1893  by  West  End 
Association,  and  Legislative  Action  Thereon. 


George  B.  Sheppard,  Secretary. 

32  Broadway, 
New  York  City. 


THE 

Organized  February  1st,  1884. 


OFFICERS: 

John  C.  Coleman,  President 
A.  Walker  Otis,  First  Vice-President 
Warren  C.  Crane,  Second  Vice-President 
Charles  L.  Craig,  Third  Vice-President 
William  H.  Rock  wood,  Treasurer 
George  B.  Sheppard,  Secretary 
Frederic  H.  Ridgeway,     Asst.  Secretary 


Meat  i£nb  Aaaoriatum 


Report  of  Committee  on  Legislation,  Law  and  Schools 
with  Respect  to  Proposed  Plans  and  Agreement  Be- 
tween the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  Rail-' 
road  and  City  of  New  York  Pursuant  to  Chapter  777 
of  the  Laws  of  1911. 


March  3rd,  1913. 

To  the  Officers  and  Members  of  the  West  End  Association. 

This  Committee  has  had  this  subject  under  consideration 
for  some  time,  and  pursuant  to  the  action  of  the  Association  at 
the  January  meeting.  In  order  that  no  misapprehension  might 
exist  with  respect  to  the  facts  and  conditions  of  the  pending 
plans  and  negotiations  between  the  Railroad  and  the  City  your 
Committee  has  undertaken  to  acquire  at  first  hand  such  facts 
and  to  report  the  same  to  the  Association,  together  with  a  brief 
summary  of  the  conditions  under  which  the  Riverside  water- 
front is  now  occupied  by  the  railroad  tracks. 

The  facts  with  respect  to  the  present  status  of  the  negotia- 
tions between  the  City  and  the  Railroad  have  been  furnished 
to  us  by  the  office  of  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
who  is  the  Chairman  of  the  Special  Committee  of  the  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Apportionment,  to  which  the  plans  and  profiles 
submitted  by  the  New  York  Central  were  referred  and  which 
Special  Committee  has  carried  on  the  negotiations  with  the 
Railroad.  By  special  arrangement  a  meeting  of  the  Committee 
was  held  at  the  office  of  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men, where  a  set  of  the  Dlans  and  profiles  were  available  for 
use,  and  these  plans  and  the  negotiations  and  the  present  status 
thereof  were  fully  stated  to  the  Committee  by  Mr.  R.  C.  Harri- 

3 


son,  examiner  on  the  executive  staff  of  the  President  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen,  and  who  is  familiar  with  the  entire  subject. 
The  proceedings  of  this  hearing  were  taken  down  stenographi- 
cally  by  a  court  stenographer  who  attended  for  that  purpose,  and 
a  copy  thereof  delivered  to  Mr.  Harrison,  as  well  as  to  the 
various  members  of  the  Committee. 

In  addition  to  this,  a  request  was  made  by  the  Committee 
upon  the  general  counsel  of  the  New  York  Central  for  a  set  of 
the  plans  and  profiles,  and  in  compliance  with  this  request  the 
Railroad  on  the  28th  ultimo  furnished  to  us  a  complete  set. 

The  Committee  has  had  several  meetings  and  the  subject 
has  been  given  careful  attention  and  consideration,  and  has  drawn 
on  such  other  sources  of  information  as  were  available  to  it  in 
addition  to  the  foregoing. 

In  order  to  understand  the  present  conditions  it  is  neces- 
sary to  have  in  view  the  circumstances  under  which  these  con- 
ditions have  developed. 

Railroad  Charter  and  Agreement  with  City  of  New  York. 

The  Hudson  River  Railroad  was  organized  under  Act  of 
the  Legislature  passed  in  1846.  By  this  act  the  Company  was 
empowered  to 

"construct  a  single,  double  or  treble  railroad  or  way  between  the 
cities  of  New  York  and  Albany,  commencing  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  with  the  consent  of  the  corporation  of  the  City  of  New 
York." 

and  the  Act  provided  that : 

"The  said  directors  may  locate  their  railroad  on  any  of  the 
streets  or  avenues  of  the  City  of  New  York,  westerly  of  and 
including  the  Eighth  Avenue  and  on  or  westerly  of  Hudson 
Street,  provided  the  assent  of  the  corporation  of  said  city  be 
first  obtained  for  such  location." 

The  consent  of  the  City  prescribed  in  the  Act  was  granted 
by  an  ordinance  approved  by  the  Mayor  on  May  6th,  1847, 
which,  among  other  things,  provided  that: 

"Permission  is  hereby  granted  to  the  Hudson  River  Rail- 
road Company  to  construct  a  double  track  of  rails,  with  suitable 
turnouts,  along  the  line  of  the  Hudson  River,  from  Spuyten 

4 


Duyvil  Creek  to  near  Sixty-eighth  Street;  occupying  so  much  of 
the  Twelfth  Avenue  as  lies  along  the  shore,  thence  winding 
from  the  shore  so  as  to  intersect  the  Eleventh  Avenue,  at  or 
near  Sixtieth  Street;  thence  through  the  middle  of  the  Eleventh 
Avenue  to  about  Thirty-second  Street ;  thence  on  a  curve  across 
to  the  Tenth  Avenue,  intersecting  the  Tenth  Avenue  at  or  near 
Thirtieth  Street ;  thence  through  the  middle  of  the  Tenth  Avenue 
to  West  Street,  and  thence  through  the  middle  of  West  Street 
to  Canal  Street." 

The  ordinance  further  provided  for  a  number  of  conditions, 
among  others,  that : 

"Sec.  2,  (a)  The  said  Hudson  River  Rail  Road  Company 
shall  Grade,  Regulate,  Pave  and  keep  in  Repair,  a  space  twenty- 
five  feet  in  width,  in  and  about  the  tracks,  in  all  the  Avenues 
and  Streets  through  which  the  said  track  or  tracks  shall  be 
laid,  whenever  the  Common  Council  shall  deem  the  interest  of 
the  public  to  require  such  pavement  to  be  done. 

(b)  The  said  Company  shall  lay  such  rail  track  through 
the  Avenues  and  Streets  in  conformity  to  such  directions  as 
to  line  and  grade  as  shall  be  given  by  the  Street  Commissioner, 
and  shall  conform  their  said  Rail  Road  to  the  Grades  of  the 
Avenues  and  Streets  through  which  it  shall  extend,  or  cross,  as 
shall  be  from  time  to  time  established  by  the  Common  -Council, 
if  the  latter  so  require; 

0)  and  shall  lay  their  rails  or  tracks,  in  the  Streets  or 
Avenues,  in  such  manner  as  to  cause  no  unnecessary  impediment 
to  the  common  and  ordinary  use  of  the  Street  for  all  other 
purposes,  and  so  as  to  leave  all  the  water  courses  free  and  un- 
obstructed. 

(d)  It  shall  be  especially  encumbent  on  the  said  Hudson 
River  Rail  Road  Company,  at  their  own  cost,  to  construct  stone 
bridges  across  such  of  the  Streets  intersected  'by  the  Rail  Road 
as  may,  by  the  elevation  of  their  grades  above  the  surface  of 
said  road,  require  to  be  arched  or  bridged,  whenever,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Common  Council,  the  same  shall  be  necessary 
for  public  convenience : 

(e)  and  also  to  make  such  embankments  or  excavations 
as  the  Common  Council  may  deem  necessary  to  render  passage 
over  the  Rail  Road  and  embankments  at  the  cross  Streets  easy 
and  convenient  for  all  purposes  for  which  Streets  and  Roads 
are  usually  put  to ; 

(/)  and  the  said  Company  shall  also  make,  at  their  own 
cost  and  charge,  all  such  drains  and  sewers,  as  their  embank- 


5 


ments  or  excavations  may,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Common  Coun- 
cil, render  necessary; 

(g)  and  said  Company  shall  be  at  all  times  subject  to  such 
regulations,  with  reference  to  the  convenience  of  public  travel 
through  such  Streets  and  Avenues  as  are  affected  by  the  said 
Rail  Road,  as  the  Common  Council  shall,  from  time  to  time,  by 
Resolution  or  Ordinance  direct; 

(h)  and  the  Corporation  hereby  reserves  the  right  to  re- 
quire said  Company,  at  any  time  after  the  Eleventh  Avenue 
shall  be  made  to  Fourteenth  Street,  to  take  up  their  rails  in 
the  Tenth  Avenue,  and  lay  them  in  the  Eleventh  Avenue  to  said 
Fourteenth  Street,  and  through  Fourteenth  Street  to  connect 
with  West  Street. 

Sec.  3.  The  said  Company  shall,  within  one  year  from 
the  passage  of  this  Ordinance,  and  before  entering  upon  any 
contracts  for  Grading,  file  in  the  office  of  the  Street  Commis- 
sioner a  Map  showing  the  location  and  intended  grade  of  said 
Rail  Road. 


Sec.  6.  This  Ordinance  shall  not  be  construed  as  binding 
upon  the  Corporation,  nor  shall  it  go  into  effect,  until  the  said 
Hudson  River  Rail  Road  Company  shall  first  duly  execute,  under 
their  corporate  seal,  such  an  instrument  in  writing,  covenanting 
and  engaging,  on  their  part  and  behalf,  to  stand  to,  abide  by, 
hnd  perform  all  such  conditions  and  requirements  contained  in 
the  second  and  third  sections  of  this  Ordinance  as  the  Mayor 
and  the  Counsel  to  the  Corporation  shall  by  their  certificate 
approve,  and  not  until  such  instrument  shall  be  filed,  so  certi- 
fied, in  the  Office  of  the  Comptroller  of  this  City." 

The  conditions  imposed  its-  this  ordinance  were  accepted  by 
the  Railroad  by  a  formal  covenant  in  writing  executed  by  it  on 
August  12th,  1847,  in  and  by  which  the  Company  agreed,  among 
other  things, 

"That  the  said  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company  for  them- 
selves and  their  successors,  do  hereby,  in  consideration  of  the 
premises,  covenant  and  engage  to  and  with  the  Mayor,  Alder- 
men and  Commonalty  of  the  City  of  New  York  and  their  suc- 
cessors forever  . 

That  the  said  Company  will  lay  such  railroad  track  through 
the  avenues  and  streets  in  conformity  to  such  direction  as  to 
line  and  grade  as  shall  be  given  by  the  Street  Commissioner, 
and  shall  conform  their  railroad  to  the  grades  of  the  avenues 
and  streets  through  which  it  shall  extend,  or  which  it  shall 
cross,  as  shall  be  from  time  to  time  established  by  the  Common 
Council,  if  the  latter  so  require. 


6 


And  that  said  Company  will  lay  their  rails  or  tracks  in  the 
streets  or  avenues  in  such  manner  as  to  give  no  unnecessary 
impediment  to  the  Common  and  ordinary  use  of  the  streets  for 
all  other  purposes  and  so  as  to  leave  all  the  water  courses  free 
and  unobstructed. 

And  further  that  said  Company  will,  at  their  own  cost,  con- 
struct stone  bridges  across  such  of  the  streets  intersected  by 
the  said  railroad  as  may,  by  the  elevation  of  their  grades  above 
the  surface  of  said  road,  require  to  be  arched  or  bridged,  when- 
ever, in  the  opinion  of  the  Common  Council,  the  same  shall 
be  necessary  for  public  convenience. 

And  also  that  the  said  Company  will  make  such  embank- 
ments or  excavations  as  the  Common  Council  may  deem  neces- 
sary to  render  the  passage  over  the  said  railroad  and  embank- 
ments at  the  cross  streets  easy  and  convenient  for  all  purposes 
to  which  the  streets  and  roads  are  usually  put. 

And  will  at  all  times  be  subject  to  such  regulations  with 
reference  to  the  convenience  of  public  travel  through  such 
streets  and  avenues  as  are  affected  by  said  railroad  as  the  Com- 
mon Council  shall  from  time  to  time  by  resolution  or  ordinance 
direct. 


And  that  the  said  Company  will,  within  one  year  from 
the  passage  of  the  said  ordinance,  and  before  entering  upon  any 
contracts  for  grading,  file  in  the  office  of  the  Street  Commis- 
sioner, a  map  showing  the  location  and  intended  grade  of  said 
railroad. 

And  lastly,  that  said  Company  will  stand  to,  abide  by  and 
perform  all  and  singular  the  conditions  and  requirements  con- 
tained in  the  second  and  third  sections  of  the  said  ordinance/' 

This  covenant  was  approved  by  William  V.  Brady,  then 
Mayor  of  the  City  of  New  York,  as  being  in  compliance  with 
the  ordinance  required,  and  was  thereafter  filed  and  still  remains 
upon  file  in  the  office  of  the  Comptroller  of  the  City  of  New 
York.  The  map  or  plan  required  by  the  ordinance  and  agree- 
ment was  filed,  and  reference  to  this  will  hereafter  be  made. 

In  Addition  to  the  Contract  Obligations  to  the  City  of  New  York, 
the  Railroad  and  Manner  in  Which  It  Shall  be  Maintained  and 
Operated  Are  Subject  to  the  Control  of  the  State. 

The  Act  under  which  the  Company  was  chartered  and  by 
which  it  was  given  the  right  to  lay  dowm  its  tracks  concluded 
with  the  provision  that 

'The  Legislature  may  at  any  time  alter  or  repeal  this  Act." 


7 


In  the  recent  litigation  between  the  Railroad  and  City  of 
New  York,  where  the  question  was  involved  as  to  whether  the 
City  could  compel  the  removal  of  the  railroad  tracks,  the  Court 
of  Appeals  held  that  such  power  was  not  in  the  City,  but  in 
the  Legislature.  The  Court,  referring  to  the  foregoing  pro- 
vision, said: 

"The  last  section  (Section  36)  provides  that  the  Legislature 
'may  at  any  time  alter  or  repeal  this  act.'  The  Legislature  has 
not  exercised  its  reserved  power  to  repeal  up  to  the  time  of  the 

argument  before  us  The  Legislature  chose  to  make 

the  location  of  the  tracks  in  the  streets  of  New  York  dependent 
upon  the  assent  of  the  municipal  corporation,  but  it  was  not 
under  any  legal  obligation  to  do  so;  and  the  fact  that  it  did  so 
gave  the  City  no  authority  to  withdraw  or  cancel  the  franchise 
after  it  had  once  been  made  effective  by  the  City's  consent. 
Assuming  the  existence  of  that  power  in  any  one,  it  belonged 
and  still  belongs  to  the  Legislature  and  not  to  the  corporation 
of  the  City  of  New  York.  .  .  .  Even  if  it  conferred  an 
irrevocable  property  right,  under  the  doctrine  of  People  v. 
O'Brien  it  would  not  follow  that  it  was  incapable  of  modification 
or  regulation  by  the  Legislature  as  to  the  manner  in  which  it 
might  continue  to  be  enjoyed.  .  .  .  The  interests  of  the 
public  in  the  other  direction  were  protected  by  the  reserved 
right  of  amendment  and  repeal. 

The  question  upon  which  this  litigation  turns  is  whether 
the  plaintiff  can  lawfully  be  put  off  the  streets  by  the  City  of 
New  York.  The  Act  of  the  Legislature  which  permitted  the 
Hudson  River  Railroad  Company  to  go  there  sixty-five  years 
ago  and  which  the  Legislature  has  seen  fit  to  leave  in  full  force 
and  effect  ever  since  compels  us  to  answer  that  question  in  the 
k  negative." 

Chief  Judge  Cullen,  in  concurring  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Court,  said : 

"The  permission  to  occupy  the  street  was  solely  as  a  means 
for  running  from  one  terminus  of  the  road  to  the  other;  nor 
did  the  franchise  to  maintain  the  road  include  an  unqualified 
right  to  maintain  it  on  the  surface.  The  'power  reserved  to 
the  Legislature  to  alter,  amend  or  repeal  a  charter  authorizes 
it  to  make  any  alteration  or  amendment  of  a  charter  granted 
subject  to  it  which  will  not  defeat  or  substantially  impair  the 
object  of  the  grant  or  any  rights  vested  under  it  and  which 
the  Legislature  may  deem  necessary  to  secure  either  that  subject 
or  any  public  right.'  {Close  v.  Glenwood  Cemetery,  107  U.  S. 
466,  476.)  Under  this  doctrine  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  upheld  the  validity  of  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the 


8 


State  of  Connecticut  compelling  a  railroad  company  to  abolish, 
at  its  own  expense,  all  grade  crossings  as  a  valid  exercise  of  the 
police  power.  (N.  Y.  &  New  England  Railroad  Co.  v.  Bristol, 
151  U.  S.  556.)  So  in  the  case  before  us  I  think  it  clear  that 
the  Legislature  may  so  regulate  the  plaintiff's  railroad  in  the 
City  of  New  York  as  to  remove  the  constant  menace  and  dan- 
ger to  life  occasioned  by  its  present  operation ." 

Railroad  Tracks  Laid  Upon  Land  Owned  by  the  City  of  New  York. 

The  location  map  filed  by  the  Railroad  shows  a  strip  of 
land  under  water  along  the  shore  of  the  Hudson  River  from 
Spuyten  Duyvil  south  not  continuous,  but  in  its  several  parts 
aggregating  in  length  over  four  miles.  Under  the  Dongan  char- 
ter, the  Montgomery  charter  and  the  grants  made  by  the  People 
of  the  State  of  New  York  in  1807  and  in  1826,  and  other  grants 
prior  to  the  incorporation  of  the  Hudson  River  Railroad,  the 
City  of  New  York  had  title  to  all  of  the  lands  under  water 
shown  upon  the  Railroad  Location  Map. 

The  State  did  not  in  any  of  the  statutes  relating  to  the 
Railroad  convey  any  land  to  the  Company  which  belonged  to  the 
State  or  City,  either  above  or  under  water.  It  is  not  contended  that 
the  City  by  the  mere  giving  of  its  consent  that  the  Railroad 
might  locate  its  tracks  in  certain  places  thereby  conferred  any 
title  or  ownership  of  the  soil  upon  the  Railroad.  \Ye  mention 
this  because  of  the  claim  often  asserted  by  the  Railroad  that 
it  is  the  owner  of  the  land  upon  which  its  tracks  are  laid  along 
the  North.  River  waterfront,  and  which  ownership  is  asserted 
upon  the  plans  and  profiles  submitted  to  the  City,  and  with 
respect  to  which  the  Railroad,  as  hereafter  pointed  out,  asks  the 
City  to  release  its  rights. 

While  the  City  consented  that  the  Railroad  might  lay  down 
two  tracks  along  Riverside  Park,  it  now  has  for  the  greater 
portion  of  the  distance  four  tracks.  We  have  been  unable  to 
find  any  authority  whatever  for  the  laying  and  maintenance 
of  these  additional  tracks. 

The  Extension  of  Riverside  Park  to  Include  Lands  Under  Water, 
by  the  West  End  Association.* 

No  understanding  of  the  subject  can  be  had,  however,  with- 
out a  knowledge  of  the  origin  and  status  of  Riverside  Park. 

*For  Petition  and  Proceedings  by  West  End  Association,  see 
Appendix,  infra,  p.  30. 


Prior  to  1894  Riverside  Park  had  been  laid  out  and  estab- 
lished from  72nd  Street  northward  to  about  129th  Street,  and 
extending  down  to  the  easterly  line  of  the  Railroad  as  shown 
on  its  location  map.    In  1894  the  west  side  was  very  greatly 
imperiled  by  the  proposal  to  establish,  among  other  things,  a 
gas  works  just  above  72nd  Street,  and  other  industries  of  equally 
objectionable  character,  and  in  order  to  avert  this  peril  the 
West  End  Association  exerted  itself  to  the  utmost,  and  as  a 
result  of  these  exertions  and  in  order  to  carry  into  effect  its 
plans  to  protect  the  West  Side  and  Riverside  Park,  an  Act 
was  passed  by  the  Legislature,  being  Chapter  152  of  the  Laws 
of  1894,  by  which  Riverside  Park  was  extended  from  the  west- 
erly line  of  the  railroad  tracks,  as  shown  on  its  location  map, 
to  what  is  known  as  the  Central  Park  Commissioners  Bulkhead 
Line  (which  is  about  500  feet  off  high  water  line  at  72nd 
Street),  and  extending  from  the  southerly  line  of  72nd  Street 
to  the  northerly  line  of  129th  Street ;  with  two  exceptions.  These 
two  exceptions  the  Association  was  compelled  to  submit  to  in 
order  to  obtain  the  passage  of  this  legislation,  and  related  to 
the  reservation  of  certain  parcels  at  79th  Street  and  96th  Street 
for  commercial  purposes,  to  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Dock  Department.    The  parcel  at  79th  Street  extends  500  feet 
each  way  from  the  side  lines  of  the  street,  and  the  parcel  at 
96th  Street  extends  362^  feet  each  way  from  the  side  lines  of 
the  street.    With  the  exception  of  these  two  parcels  Riverside 
Park  was  extended  so  as  to  include  everything  from  the  westerly 
line  of  the  railroad  track,  as  shown  on  its  location  map,  to  the 
Central  Park  Commissioners  Bulkhead  Line ;  and  by  the  terms 
of  the  Act  the  City  authorities  were  directed  to  acquire  by  con- 
demnation proceedings  the  outstanding  title,  if  any  there  might 
be,  to  any  property  within  that  area  for  such  park  purposes. 
Such  condemnation  proceedings  were  had  and  the  property  so 
acquired  was  paid  for  by  the  issue  of  corporate  stock.  And 
ever  since  that  time  the  City  of  New  York  has  held  title  to  this 
area  in  trust  for  park  purposes,  and  it  has  been  confided  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Park  Department,  with  the  two  exceptions 
at  79th  and  96th  Streets,  which  have  been  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Dock  Department. 

It  is  in  this  area  so  held  in  trust  for  park  purposes  by  the 
City  of  New  York  that  it  is  now  proposed  to  lay  down  additional 
railroad  tracks  so  that  from  129th  Street  southward  the  New 


10 


York  Central  will  have  six  tracks  until  Sftth  Street  is  reached, 
where  the  tracks  begin  to  increase  in  number,  and  at  S4:th  Street 
there  will  be  ten  tracks,  which  continue  crossing  79th  Street, 
and  at  72nd  Street  the  number  will  have  fanned  out  and  in- 
creased to  twenty-six  tracks  in  all.  It  is  further  proposed  that 
the  absolute  and  unqualified  ownership  of  all  of  this  land  now 
held  in  trust  for  park  purposes  by  the  City  of  New  York  be 
conveyed  to  the  New  York  Central,  subject  to  an  easement 
in  favor  of  the  City  to  the  extent  that  the  City  may  maintain 
over  the  tracks  a  roof  supporting  soil  or  passageways. 

Existing  Railroad  Legislation  and  Its  Origin. 

Prior  to  the  present  time  various  efforts  have  been  made 
and  various  agitations  had  from  time  to  time  with  respect  to  a 
change  in  the  conditions  under  which  the  New  York  Central 
enjoys  railroad  facilities  in  New  York  City.  Among  other 
things  there  was  passed  in  1906  what  was  known  as  the  Saxe 
Law.  This,  however,  proved  entirely  abortive.  In  an  opinion 
rendered  by  Mr.  Justice  Gerard  in  December,  1908,  he  said  that : 

"There  is  no  conflict  as  to  the  facts  in  this  case.  It  seems 
that  the  old  Board  of  Rapid  Transit  Commissioners  never  obeyed 
this  law.  They  prepared  a  plan,  but  this  plan  did  not  provide 
for  a  subway.  .  .  .  The  fault  lies  with  the  old  Board  of 
Rapid  Transit  Commissioners  and  not  with  the  present  Public 
Service  Commission  or  the  Corporation  Counsel.  The  old  Board 
of  Rapid  Transit  Commissioners  failed  to  take  the  first  step 
directed  by  the  Legislature." 

With  this  decision  ended  the  attempt  under  the  baxe  Law 
to  do  away  with  the  operation  at  grade  of  the  so-called  West 
Side  tracks  of  the  New  York  Central. 

In  1909  a  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Estimate 
and  Apportionment  which  if  carried  into  effect  would  have 
required  the  removal  of  the  tracks  of  the  New  York  Central. 
As  a  result  of  this  resolution  the  Railroad  brought  an  action 
against  the  City  of  New  York  in  which  it  sought  an  injunction 
permanently  enjoining  the  City  from  taking  any  such  steps. 
Both  the  Railroad  and  the  City  injected  into  the  litigation  a 
large  number  of  contentions  that  the  courts  refused  to  pass 
upon.  It  was  held  in  the  court  below  that  the  City  did  not  have 
the  power  to  require  the  Railroad  to  remove  its  tracks,  but  that 


li 


such  power  resided  solely  in  the  Legislature.  This  was  upon 
the  theory  that  the  rights  originally  granted  had  been  granted 
by  the  Legislature,  and  only  the  Legislature,  which  had  reserved 
the  right  to  repeal  or  amend  the  Act  granting  such  rights,  had 
such  power.  This  result  was  affirmed  in  the  Court  of  Appeals. 
It  is  from  the  opinion  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  this  case  that 
quotation  was  made  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  report  {infra, 
p.  7).  The  decision  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  was  announced 
May  15th,  1911,  and  on  July  25th,  1911,  the  Legislature  passed 
the  Act  known  as  Chapter  777  of  the  Laws  of  1911,  from  which 
the  present  situation  has  resulted.  This  Act  has  frequently  been 
called  an  enabling  Act ;  meaning  thereby  that  the  Legislature  has 
given  to  the  City  of  New  York  power  to  do  things  which  with- 
out such  Act  it  could  not  do. 

Legislative  Bills  Prepared  by  the  Dock  Commissioner,  the  Mayor 

and  the  Railroad. 

It  has  been  stated  publicly  by  one  of  the  engineers  employed 
by  the  City  that  the  Act  was  "drawn  jointly  by  the  New  York 
Central  officials  and  the  Corporation  Counsel  of  the  City."  But 
in  a  communication  to  the  Mayor  dated  September  24th,  1912, 
the  Dock  Commissioner,  after  referring  to  previous  discussion 
of  the  West  Side  waterfront  matter,  stated : 

"I  therefore  had  prepared  and  submitted  drafts  for  three 
classes  of  enabling  legislation: 

1.  An  enabling  act  to  empower  the  City  toward  the  acqui- 
sition, construction  and  operation  of  up-to-date  freight  term- 
inal facilities. 

2.  An  act  under  which  your  Board  was  specifically  em- 
powered to  readjust  the  franchises  of  the  New  York  Central 
Railroad  at  the  West  Side  of  Manhattan. 

3.  A  freight  terminal  incorporation  act  to  facilitate  the  co- 
operation in  this  regard  of  private  capital  and  public  service. 

With  the  co-operation  of  your  Board  and  especially  of  his 
Honor  the  Mayor  and  the  Corporation  Counsel,  the  proposed 
legislation  was  enacted  July  25,  1911,  as  Chapters  776,  777  and 
778  of  the  Laws  of  1911." 

However,  in  a  communication  to  the  Mayor  dated  Novem- 
ber 2nd,  1911,  the  Dock  Commissioner  stated  that  while  in 


12 


preparing  the  bill  he  had  "fully  consulted  the  Central  Railroad," 
yet,  nevertheless,  a  provision  contained  in  the  bill  as  originally 
drafted  by  him  which  would  prevent  the  taking  of  any  part  of 
Riverside  Park'  by  the  Railroad  east  of  the  Railroad's  present 
line  was  eliminated  from  the  bill  at  the  instance  of  the  Railroad 
before  it  was  enacted.  In  the  former  communication  the  Dock 
Commissioner  said : 

"By  the  Act,  Chapter  777  of  the  Laws  of  1911,  under  which 
it  is  now  proposed  to  readjust  the  Central's  franchises,  that  road 
is  permitted  to  become  the  contractor  of  the  City  for  such  con- 
struction as  may  be  required  in  the  premises,  and  under  the 
City's  Freight  Terminals  Act,  Chapter  776  of  the  Laws  of  1911, 
it  can  become  the  City's  lessee  for  operation." 

Outline  of  Chapter  777. 

Briefly  this  Act,  Chapter  777  of  the  Laws  of  1911,  author- 
izes the  New  York  Central  to  prepare  and  submit  to  the  Board 
of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  plans  and  profiles  showing  the 
proposed  changes  that  the  Railroad  desires  to  make  in  its  tracks 
and  facilities  within  the  City  of  New  York  and  permits  the 
City  to  make  amendments  to  these  plans;  and  authorizes  the 
City  and  the  Railroad  to  enter  into  an  agreement  as  to  the  terms 
and  conditions  upon  which  said  plans  shall  be  carried  into 
effect,  and  when  the  final  plans  are  agreed  upon  requires  that 
they  be  filed  in  certain  offices  in  the  City  of  New  York,  and 
that  the  map  of  the  City  of  New  York  be  thereby  amended  in 
accordance  with  such  plans.    The  Act  further  provides  that 
the  plans  so  adopted  may  be  amended  from  time  to  time  on 
application  of  the  Railroad  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Appor- 
tionment.   It  does  not  contain  any  requirement  that  any  par- 
ticular notice,  public  or  otherwise,  of  such  application  shall  be 
given.    With  respect  to  that  part  of  the  plans  and  agreement  op- 
erative north  of  Dyckman  Street  the  Act  provides  in  substance 
that  it  is  optional  with  the  Railroad  to  carry  out  such  plans  at 
such  time  in  the  future  as  it  may  desire,  unless  the  agreement 
made  with  the  City  requires  immediate  change  in  this  respect. 
The  Act  requires  the  substitution  of  electric  for  steam  power 
within  four  years  from  the  date  of  the  contract  between  the 
City  and  the  Railroad. 

The  Act  contains  nothing  in  detail  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
plans,  and  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  the  Legislature  by 

13 


the  passage  of  the  Act  either  had  any  knowledge  of  or  in  any 
wise  approved  of  any  plans  or  profiles  that  might  be  submitted 
thereunder ;  nor  is  there  anything  in  the  Act  that  directly  author- 
ized the  City  of  New  York  to  abandon  any  property  held  in  trust 
for  park  purposes  or  other  trust,  nor  is  there  anything  that  im- 
pliedly suggests  that  any  such  question  was  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Legislature. 

Plans  and  Profiles  Filed  and  Action  Proposed  Thereon. 

Following  the  passage  of  this  Act  on  September  28th,  1911, 
certain  plans  and  profiles  were  submitted  to  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mate and  Apportionment  by  the  New  York  Central.  These 
plans  consisted  of  39  sheets  each  substantially  two  feet  in  width 
by  five  feet  in  length.  These  plans  and  profiles  were  by  the 
Board  referred  to  a  Committee  consisting  of  the  President  of 
the  Board  of  Aldermen,  the  Comptroller,  the  President  of  the 
Borough  of  Manhattan  and  the  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Board. 

Under  date  of  October  3rd,  1912,  such  Committee  made  a 
report  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment.  In  this 
report  the  Committee  stated  that  when  these  plans  were  filed 
they  were  referred  to  the  Dock  Commissioner  for  his  criticism 
and  report,  and  that  on  November  2nd,  1911,  the  Dock  Com- 
missioner submitted  a  critical  report  expressing,  among  other 
things,  the  opinion  of  the  Dock  Department  that  the  City  should 
retain  control  of  a  continuous  waterfront  strip  at  no  point  less 
tha)i  100  feet  in  width,  and  at  certain  strategic  points  not  less 
than  150  feet  in  width,  which  marginal  way  in  the  opinion  of 
the  Dock  Commissioner  would  be  sufficient  for  commercial  pur- 
poses and  preserve  the  entire  waterfront  for  general  commer- 
cial development ;  and  the  Committee  goes  on  to  state  that  "it 
has  adopted  the  view  of  the  Dock  Commissioner.'  The  view 
of  the  Dock  Commissioner  adopted  is  stated  by  him  in  his  report 
as  follows : 

"If  the  reservations  for  public  use  indicated  on  the  Dock 
Department's  maps  are  adopted  by  your  Board,  they  will  have 
the  effect  of  keeping  for  the  City  control  of  its  waterfront  above 
Seventy-second  Street.  There  is  a  line  in  the  river  westward 
of  which  it  will  be  difficult  and  expensive  to  make  solid  fill,  on 
account  of  the  character  of  the  river  bottom.  Reservation  of 
a  strip  of  land  to  the  eastward  at  least  100  feet  wide  is  there- 
fore shown,  which  can  be  filled  in  and  made  available  for  public 
use  for  park  or  commercial  purposes.    In  other  words,  a  prac- 


ticable  marginal  way  along  the  waterfront,  betzveen  the  river  and 
the  Company's  tracks  should  be  left  in  control  of  the  City.  In 
localities  where  commercial  development  exists,  or  is  anticipated, 
this  width  of  100  feet  is  increased." 

By  the  map  then  filed  by  the  Dock  Commissioner  as  a  part 
of  such  report  the  land  so  reserved  for  a  marginal  way  is  indi- 
cated by  a  green  line  and  shows  the  full  length  of  Riverside  Park 
from  72)id  Street  to  13oth  Street,  where  it  is  interrupted  by  the 
proposed  yard  and  pier  extensions  of  the  New  York  Central  ex- 
tending to  148th  Street.  In  order  that  there  may  be  no  mis- 
apprehension as  to  the  meaning  of  this  marginal  way  the  Dock 
Commissioner  in  the  report  referred  to  further  says  : 

'The  Company's  plans  show  a  fanning  out  of  the  trackage 
from  86th  south  to  ?2nd  Street,  as  an  approach  to  its  great  yard, 
thus  in  effect  including  this  park  section  within  the  limits  of  the 
proposed  yard.  A  wide  approach  to  the  yard  may  be  commer- 
cially desirable,  but  City  park  lands  here  should  be  extended 
over  the  railroad  as  a  condition  of  any  City  concession. 

If  the  Company  shall  acquire  all  the  land  it  asks  from  the 
City  south  of  79th  Street,  there  will  not  be  sufficient  room  be- 
tween the  railroad  and  the  bulkhead  to  permit  of  the  City's  com- 
mercial development  in  that  locality.  The  Company  shows  ten 
tracks  at  ?9th  Street  so  separated  as  to  provide  for  passenger 
platforms.  If  the  Company  conforms  to  the  restrictions  noted 
in  the  Department's  plans,  it  will  be  able  to  secure  ten  tracks  by 
narrowing  the  space  from  centre  to  centre,  and  by  omitting  the 
passenger  platform.  But  if  the  platform  is  essential  for  future 
City  traffic,  then  it  will  be  necessary  to  widen  the  Central's  right 
of  way  easterly  under  Riverside  Park.  To  maintain  six  main 
tracks  in  the  vicinity  of  West  89th  Street  it  will  be  necessary  to 
move  the  Central's  tracks  about  thirty  feet  under  Riverside 
Park.  If,  however,  it  can  be  arranged  so  that  the  Park  Com- 
missioner's  bulkhead  line  at  this  point  shall  be  removed  out- 
shore  about  thirty  feet,  the  City  can  still  retain  its  100- foot  mar- 
ginal right  of  way  and  permit  the  Central  to  construct  six  tracks 
without  going  under  the  park." 

After  having  stated  that  it  "had  adopted  the  view  of  the 
Dock  Commissioner,"  the  Special  Committee  in  its  report  of 
October  3rd,  1912,  goes  on  to  say:  That  since  the  reference  of 
the  plans  to  it  a  number  of  conferences  had  been  held  with  the 
officers  and  engineers  of  the  New  York  Central,  with  the  Dock 
Commissioner  and  his  engineers  and  counsel ;  that  the  plans  had 
been  studied  in  detail  from  a  point  north  of  the  Harlem  Ship 


15 


Canal  to  the  60th  Street  yard;  that  south  of  the  60th  Street 
yard  the  Committee  had  at  that  time  considered  only  the  gen- 
eral aspects  of  the  problem,  but  that  meanwhile  it  was  in  a  posi- 
tion to  make  an  interim  report  concerning  that  portion  of  the 
line  north  of  60th  Street;  and  reported  that  it  may  be  said 
generally  with  reference  to  the  plans  of  the  Railroad  between 
60th  Street  and  the  Bronx  that  they  were  satisfactory  to  the 
Committee  as  filed,  with  certain  important  exceptions  which  sug- 
gested changes  of  two  kinds,  one  of  which  had  been  adjusted 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Committee  and  might  be  placed  on 
amended  plans  without  further  negotiation,  and  the  other  of 
which  were  still  the  subject  of  negotiation,  but  at  a  point  where 
early  adjustment  seemed  reasonably  certain.  The  report  then, 
under  fourteen  separate  headings,  refers  respectively  to  the 
tracks  in  the  Borough  of  the  Bronx  between  the  City  line  and 
the  Harlem  Ship  Canal,  the  crossing  of  the  Harlem  Ship  Canal, 
the  crossing  at  Dyckman  Street,  the  land  required  for  freight 
terminal  purposes  immediately  south  of  Dyckman  Street,  treat- 
ment of  the  cut  through  Fort  Washington  Park,  the  track  align- 
ment and  marginal  way  between  161st  and  155th  Streets,  land 
required  for  terminal  purposes  between  153rd  and  137th  Streets, 
the  track  alignment  and  marginal  way  between  135th  and  129th 
Streets,  roofing  of  tracks  between  122nd  and  72nd  Streets,  ad- 
justment at  96th  Street,  adjustment  at  79th  Street,  real  estate 
adjustment  in  the  60th  Street  yard,  general  question  of  real  estate 
adjustment  between  the  City  and  the  Company,  and  adjustment 
of  harbor  lines;  and  concludes  with  a  summary  of  the  results 
which  the  Committee  conceives  the  negotiations  have  produced. 

Your  Committee  has  concerned  itself  chiefly  with  the  pro- 
posed disposition  of  Riverside  Park,  that  part  of  the  railroad 
facilities  lying  between  72nd  and  129th  Streets;  though  neces- 
sarily some  reference  must  be  made  to  other  parts  of  the  plans. 
A  set  of  the  plans  as  originally  filed  are  on  view  at  the  time  that 
this  report  is  submitted  and  are  open  for  inspection  with  respect 
to  the  details  of  the  various  yards  and  facilities  which  the  Rail- 
road plans  at  Dyckman  Street,  Manhattanville,  60th  Street,  30th 
Street  and  St.  John's  Park. 

With  respect  to  the  conditions  between  72nd  Street  and 
129th  Street,  the  Special  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Estimate 
in  the  aforesaid  report  dated  October  3rd,  1912,  said: 

16 


"9.  Roofing  of  tracks  between  122d  and  7 2d  streets.  ' 

Your  Committee  has  insisted  throughout  the  entire  negotia- 
tions that  the  tracks  along  Riverside  Drive  should  be  roofed.  The 
railroad  company  has  agreed  that  this  roofing  should  be  done  be- 
tween 122d  and  72d  Streets,  but  has  not  agreed  as  to  the  division 
of  expense  in  the  manner  insisted  upon  by  your  Committee. 

Your  Committee  has  submitted  to  the  Company  a  plan  which 
it. considers  to  be  perfectly  fair  to  both  the  City  and  the  Com- 
pany. The  tracks  along  Riverside  Drive  are  to'  be  increased  in 
number.  It  follows  that  the  nuisance  will  be  proportionately  in- 
creased. Your  Committee  has  suggested  that  the  Railroad  Com- 
pany, at  its  own  expense,  pay  for  the  elimination  of  the  nuisance 
created  by  the  additional  tracks.  So  far  as  the  existing  tracks 
are  concerned,  your  Committee  has  suggested  that  the  expense 
of  roofing  be  borne  equally  by  the  Railroad  Company  and  by 
the  City. 

The  Railroad  Company  agrees  that  it  should  bear  the  ex- 
pense of  roofing  the  new  tracks,  but  insists  that  it  should  not 
be  asked  to  bear  any  portion  of  the  expense  of  roofing  the  exist- 
ing tracks.  The  Company's  argument  is  that  any  roof  is  a  dis- 
advantage from  an  operating  standpoint,  and  that  in  submitting 
to  roofing,  it  has  gone  as  far  as  it  feels  justified  in  going  in  the 
matter.  Your  Committee  does  not  at  all  agree  with  this  con- 
tention. The  City  of  Xew  York  is  asked  to  sell  to  the  Railroad 
Company  valuable  waterfront  property  and  lands  under  water, 
which  it  would  not  part  with  to  any  other  purchaser,  nor  except 
as  a  part  of  the  present  proposed  general  adjustment.  While 
it  is  true  that  the  Railroad  Company  is  to  pay  for  these  lands 
at  their  appraised  value,  there  is  over  and  above  such  value  an 
additional  consideration  which  cannot  be  accurately  measured 
in  money,  due  to  the  willingness  of  the  City  to  sell  at  all.  It  is 
the  contention  of  your  Committee  that  this  consideration  is 
sufficient  to  justify  insistence  by  the  City  upon  the  Railroad 
Company  sharing  in  the  expense  of  roofing  the  existing  tracks. 

From  79th  to  72nd  Streets,  the  main  line  tracks  begin  to 
fan  out  as  a  lead  to  the  60th  Street  yard,  until  at  72nd  Street 
they  occupy  a  width  of  379  feet.  Your  Committee  has  insisted 
that  the  general  welfare  of  the  City  demands  that  this  space 
be  entirely  roofed  over.  The  Railroad  Company  has  insisted 
that  while  it  is  possible  to  operate  main  line  through-tracks 
under  roof,  it  is  very  difficult  to  operate  a  freight  yard  under 
cover.  The  Company  has  consented,  however,  to  have  its  en- 
gineers prepare  plans  for  roofing  in  whole  or  in  part  this  yard 
space,  and  your  Committee  is  convinced  that  a  satisfactory  plan 
can  be  worked  out.  The  problem  is  difficult,  and  it  might  be 
fair  for  the  City  to  bear  a  greater  portion  of  the  expense  of 
roofing  the  tracks  at  this  point  than  along  the  main  line. 


17 


10.  Adjustment  at  96th  street. 

The  Commissioner  of  Docks  pointed  out  in  his  report  the 
necessity  for  the  retention  by  the  City  of  a  strip  150  feet  wide 
at  96th  Street.  In  order  to  accomplish  this,  and  at  the  same 
time  permit  the  New  York  Central  to  construct  its  tracks  as 
planned,  it  will  be  necessary  to  extend  the  present  bulkheads 
outshore  about  35  feet.  This  would  disturb  the  buildings  of  sev- 
eral lessees  of  the  City  bulkheads  operating  important  freight 
handling  facilities  at  this  point.  The  Railroad  Company  has 
agreed  that  it  will  pay  for  the  extension  of  the  bulkheads,  and 
will  bear  the  expense  involved  in  the  readjustment  of  leases. 

The  present  piers  will  be  slightly  shortened  by  the  con- 
struction of  the  railroad  tracks  as  proposed.  The  Company 
agrees  to  extend  the  piers  a  corresponding  distance,  or,  in  the 
discretion  of  the  Dock  Commissioner,  to  pay  for  an  equivalent 
amount  of  space  at  some  other  point  on  the  river  front. 

"11.  Adjustment  at  ?9th  street. 

Seventy-ninth  Street  is  another  of  the  points  where,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Dock  Commissioner,  a  150  foot  marginal  way 
should  be  reserved  for  the  City's  use.  The  Railroad  Company 
has  expressed  its  willingness  to  bear  the  expense  of  extending 
the  bulkheads  at  this  point  by  means  of  piles  and  platforms 
sufficiently  to  give  the  desired  width.  The  adjustment  is  satis- 
factory to  your  Committee." 

In  view  of  an  observation  hereafter  made  in  this  report 
with  respect  to  conditions  at  79th  Street  and  96th  Street,  we 
here  quote  further  from  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Estimate's 
Committee  the  following: 

"12.  Real  estate  adjustment  in  the  60th  street  yard. 

The  City  owns  the  beds  of  Twelfth  Avenue  and  the  cross 
streets,  which  the  Railroad  Company  proposes  to  acquire  for 
its  yard  purposes  at  this  point.  Your  Committee  recommends 
that  here,  too,  the  Railroad  Company  be  given  a  permanent 
easement  for  railroad  purposes  rather  than  a  fee.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  most  of  the  land  is  actually  occupied  by  the  New 
York  Central's  yard  tracks.  The  Company  has  not,  however, 
clear  title  to  the  land  lying  in  the  beds  of  the  streets  crossing 
the  yard.  This  condition  presents  a  checker-board  type  of 
ownership  which,  while  of  no  practical  advantage  to  the  City, 
is  unnecessarily  burdensome  upon  the  railroad.  It  is  the  opin- 
ion of  your  Committee  that  the  control  of  the  land  lying  within 
the  limits  of  this  yard  should  be  in  the  Railroad  Company,  and 
that  to  this  end  the  railroad  be  given  a  permanent  easement  for 


is 


railroad  purposes  which  will  permit  it  to  make  the  necessary 
permanent  improvements  at  this  important  freight  distributing 
point." 

The  further  discussion  of  matters  in  said  report  would  un- 
duly prolong  the  report  of  your  Committee. 

Status  of  Negotiations  at  Date  of  This  Report,  as  to  Proposed 
Disposition  of  Riverside  Park. 

A  further  report  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment by  its  said  Special  Committee  is  now  ready  for  submis- 
sion, but  copies  are  not  available  prior  to  submission  to  the 
Board.  However,  at  a  meeting  of  your  Committee  held  at  the 
office  of  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  on  February 
21st,  1913,  a  set  of  the  plans  and  profiles  being  used,  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  the  negotiations  between  the  City  and  the  Rail- 
road insofar  as  they  relate  to  this  particular  district  were  ex- 
plained to  your  Committee  by  Mr.  R.  C.  Harrison,  examiner 
on  the  executive  staff  of  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men, to  be  substantially  as  follows: 

Running  southward  from  the  Manhattanville  yard  the  six  main 
line  tracks  of  ,the  Railroad  cross  130th  Street  over  a  viaduct 
and  come  to  grade  at  122nd  Street,  and  continue  as  six  tracks 
to  86th  Street,  where  the  tracks  begin  to  increase  in  number, 
and  at  84th  Street  there  are  ten  tracks,  zvhich  continue  to  79th 
Street,  where  the  tracks  rapidly  begin  to  increase  in  number, 
so  that  at  72nd  Street  there  are  twenty-six  tracks  occupying  a 
space  379  feet  in  width. 

Quoting  now  from  the  stenographic  transcript  of  Mr.  Har- 
rison's explanation,  he  says : 

"The  Company  has  agreed  to  put  in  a  solid  roof  between 
the  southerly  line  of  West  72nd  Street  and  the  northerly  line  of 
West  122nd  Street,  covering  both  the  old  tracks  and  the  new, 
that  is  to  say  wherever  we  give  them  an  extended  area  over 
what  they  have  now,  the  roof  will  be  carried  to  the  extreme 
westerly  edge  of  the  new  right  of  way,  and  the  roof  will  be  a  solid 
deck  without  openings,  built  in  such  a  way  that  it  will  carry 
four  feet  of  earth.  The  treatment  of  the  top  of  that  roof  has 
not  been  decided  upon  for  this  reason,  that  we  are  so  arrang- 
ing it  that  we  may  make  it  a  park  if  we  want,  that  is  a  park 
in  the  sense  of  a  dirt  covered  area  which  may  be  planted  with 
bushes  and  trees,  or  it  may  be  a  drive,  or  it  may  be  desirable 
to  make  that  into  a  public  esplanade  simply  for  pedestrians.  In 


19 


the  latter  case  it  will  cost  a  little  less,  because  the  structure  need 
not  be  quite  so  heavy.  The  present  disposition  is  to  make  it 
a  combination  park  and  drive,  making  it  heavy  enough  to  carry 
the  necessary  earth,  together  with  the  necessary  vehicular  traffic. 
For  a  long  time  the  Railroad  Company  contended  very  strongly 
that  they  should  not  roof  the  section  between  72nd  and  79th 
Streets,  because  that  is  the  neck  of  their  12nd  Street  yard.  But 
no  matter  what  anyone  may  tell  you  to  the  contrary,  the  roof 
is  to  be  absolutely  solid  between  those  points,  and  to  eliminate 
the  nuisance  entirely.  Another  thing  you  should  bear  in  mind 
all  through  this  discussion  of  the  New  York  Central  problem, 
and  that  is  that  the  engines,  the  present  steam  engines,  are  all 
to  be  removed  and  the  operation  from  the  City  line  south  is 
to  be  entirely  electric,  thus  doing  away  with  the  incidental  noise 
and  smoke  and  soot  and  dirt  of  the  present  steam  operation.  .  .  . 

The  roof,  as  I  say,  will  be  solid  from  72nd  Street  to  122nd 
Street,  at  which  point  the  tracks  rise  on  a  viaduct  across  Man- 
hattan Valley,  crossing  on  an  elevated  structure  in  front  of  the 
125th  Street  Ferry  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  from  the 
bulkhead,  leaving  a  clear  marginal  way  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  width  for  commercial  purposes  at  that  point,  and 
coming  down  again  to  grade  at  the  new  Manhattanville  yard 
somewhere  between  139th  and  141st  Streets,  gradually  coming 
down  on  a  ramp  into  this  new  freight  yard.  Now,  beginning 
at  135th  Street  and  running  to  151st  or  152nd  Street,  this  new 
yard  layout  is  to  be  made.  As  you  have  probably  noticed  from 
the  plans  it  was  originally  of  considerable  size.  That  yard  is  a 
very  necessary  yard  so  far  as  the  commerce  of  the  port  is 
concerned.  It  is  the  mid-town  distributing  depot  for  food 
products.  At  the  present  time  they  are  using  what  tracks  they 
have  for  the  distribution  of  milk  and  perishable  food  products 
and  light  freight  destined  for  the  upper  parts  of  the  city.  And 
they  have  contended,  and  we  have  conceded,  that  it  was  very 
important  that  they  have  a  yard  of  considerable  size  at  those 
points." 

It  was  further  stated  to  your  Committee  that  the  City's 
engineers  had  reported  that  this  was  the  smallest  possible  yard 
that  would  suffice  for  the  necessary  development  of  traffic  at 
Manhattanville,  by  development  of  traffic  meaning  storage  yard, 
classification  yard,  receiving  and  distributing  yard  largely  for 
food  products  to  the  City  at  large. 

"Between  the  southerly  line  of  72nd  Street  and  the  north- 
erly line  of  122nd  Street  it  is  proposed  and  agreed  to  roof  solidly 
to  the  extreme  westerly  line  of  the  Railroad  Company's  present 
or  future  right  of  way.  In  other  words,  there  will  be  no  tracks 
and  no  right  of  way  that  is  not  solidly  decked.    The  easement 


20 


over  that  deck  will  belong  to  the  City  of  New  York,  and  can 
be  used  by  the  City  for  park  purposes  and  esplanade  purposes 
or  other  purposes.  North  of  122nd  Street  it  will  come  out  on 
a  sufficient  clearance  to  cross  the  Manhattanville  Valley,  and  then 
will  come  out  on  the  grade  of  this  yard.  . 

There  are  certain  things  which,  so  far  as  the  money  is  con- 
cerned, are  not  agreed  upon  between  the  City  and  the  Railroad 
Company,  that  is  as  to  sharing  costs  at  various  points;  but  there 
is  no  disagreement  as  to  the  physical  plan.  The  physical  plan 
is  decided  upon  and  agreed  upon  by  all  hands.  The  only  ques- 
tion is  how  much  the  Railroad  Company  will  pay  as  its  share 
and  how  much  the  City  will  pay." 

Seventy-ninth  Street  is  to  be  carried  over  the  railroad  tracks 
by  a  slightly  ascending  grade  from  Riverside  Drive,  and  on  the 
westerly  side  of  the  tracks  the  viaduct  turns  at  a  right  angle  to 
the  south  and  the  traffic  comes  down  to  dock  level  on  an  in- 
clined plane  or  ramp  at  a  grade  of  about  five  degrees,  reaching 
the  surface  about  opposite  77th  Street.  In  substantially  the 
same  manner  96th  Street  is  to  be  carried  across  the  tracks,  ex- 
cept that  in  that  instance  the  inclined  plane  or  ramp  will  de- 
scend to  the  northward. 


No  Access  to  Waterfront  Between  59th  Street  and  153rd  Street, 
Except  at  79th  Street,  96th  Street  and  Manhattanville. 

Other  than  by  these  tzvo  crossings  and  inclined  planes  there 
will  be  no  access  to  any  part  of  the  waterfront  between  72nd 
Street  and  129th  Street;  and  when  it  is  borne  in  mind,  as  here- 
inafter pointed  out,  that  the  railroad  now  occupies  and  proposes 
to  continue  to  occupy  all  of  the  waterfront  as  far  south  as  59th 
Street,  it  means  in  effect  that  there  will  be  no  public  access  to 
the  waterfront  between  59th  Street  and  130th  Street,  except  by 
these  two  ramps;  and  all  streets  from  West  137th  to  West  153rd 
Street  inclusive,  closed  and  discontinued. 

As  your  Committee  is  now  definitely  informed,  this  roof 
over  the  tracks  does  not  extend  beyond  the  southerly  line  of 
72nd  Street  or  beyond  the  outerly  track  of  the  railroad,  and 
while  there  are  no  openings  in  the  roof  proper,  it  is  open  on 
the  72nd  Street  side  and  also  along  the  waterfront  its  entire 
length. 


21 


According  to  Mr.  Goodrich  the  Present  Residents  of  a  Large  Area 
Will  Be  Forced  to  Move  Away,  and  Property  Will  Depreciate. 

With  respect  to  whether  these  proposed  plans  resulting  as 
they  do  in  a  radical  change,  are  beneficial  or  detrimental  to  the 
particular  district  in  which  the  West  End  Association  is  con- 
cerned, different  contentions  are  made.  In  this  connection  your 
Committee  deems  it  its  duty  to  submit  to  you  the  views  of 
Mr.  E.  P.  Goodrich,  one  of  the  consulting  engineers  of  the  City 
of  New  York  associated  with  the  office  of  the  President  of  the 
Borough  of  Manhattan,  and  who  is  entirely  familiar  with  the 
various  plans  and  negotiations.  These  views  were  expressed 
by  Mr.  Goodrich  on  the  4th  of  February,  1913,  in  an  address 
given  to  the  Riverside  Branch  of  the  Women's  Municipal  League 
and  (quoting  from  the  stenographic  transcript)  are  as  follows: 

"(Q.)  A  Member:  Will  there  be  depreciation  of  values  as 
the  result  of  these  changes? 

Mr.  Goodrich :  At  some  points,  inevitably.  It  is  impossible 
to  prevent  that.  In  any  case,  as  business  changes,  property  will 
rise  and  fall  in  value.  Around  Worth  Street,  for  instance, 
this  has  occurred  on  two  occasions.  At  first  it  was  resident 
property,  and  then  it  was  changed  to  manufacturing;  then  that 
went,  and  there  was  a  great  depreciation.  But  I  can  see  how 
the  market  is  moving  away  from  that  depreciation,  and  some 
day  it  will  be  an  office  building  location,  with  very  high  values. 

Mrs.  Bryan :  Is  not  the  New  York  Central  going  to  drive 
the  residential  section  away? 

Mr.  Goodrich:  That  is,  only  the  section  between  79th  and 
72nd  Streets  will  be  affected,  and  I  think  the  change  will  relieve 
the  residential  portion  of  all  noise,  so  that  there  will  be  very 
little  trouble  there.  But  the  people  of  the  highest  class  will 
leave  that  vicinity,  and  the  quality  of  the  occupancy  will  change. 
This  is  being  effected  in  parts  of  every  city  in  the  United  States. 

Mrs.  Bryan :  Now  are  they  safeguarding  the  landscape  ad- 
vantages of  the  City?    That  is  important. 

Mr.  Goodrich :  There  will  be  the  whole  Riverside  Park, 
from  79th  to  122nd  Street,  which  will  be  highly  improved  in 
value.    It  will  be  increased  in  area,  and  in  park  treatment. 

There  will  be  no  freight  yards  at  129th  Street. 

The  only  thing  for  any  one  to  do  who  is  studying  city  plan- 
ning is  not  to  attempt  to  hold  present  conditions;  if  you  do, 
you  are  going  against  a  movement  which  cannot  be  overcome; 
you  will  have  to  adapt  your  movement  to  the  conditions.  Evo- 
lution is  going  on  in  city  development,  just  as  it  is  in  plants  and 
animals.  The  city  planner  today  must  try  to  fit  everything  to 
the  new  conditions,  to  the  constant  movement  that  is  going  on 


22 


and  that  will  go  on  in  one  form  or  another — to  fit  the  conditions, 
as  they  change,  so  that  certain  individuals  will  have  to  move 
away  from  certain  districts,  because  those  districts  cease  to  fit 
into  their  scheme  of  life. 

Mrs.  Bryan :  Where  can  they  go,  if  freight  yards  go  every- 
where? 

Mr.  Goodrich :  You  can  go  to  the  district  around  Fort 
Washington;  there  is  plenty  of  space  there!' 

When  this  opinion  came  to  the  attention  of  your  Committee 
it  obtained  from  Hon.  Lawson  Purdy,  President  of  the  Board 
of  Tax  Commissioners,  a  statement  of  the  assessed  valuations 
upon  the  area  between  71st  Street,  80th  Street,  Amsterdam  Ave- 
nue and  the  North  River,  being  the  smallest  district  that  it  seems 
to  your  Committee  would  be  affected  by  the  changes  indicated 
by  Mr.  Goodrich.  The  assessed  valuations  of  this  property  for 
the  year  1913  amount  to  $53,404,000. 

The  Proposed  Plans  Necessitate  an  Enormous  and  Increasing  Com- 
mercial Use  and  Nuisance  at  79th  and  96th  Streets, 
Under  Control  of  the  Dock  Department. 

Although  the  report  of  your  Committee  has  necessarily  been 
very  greatly  extended,  there  are  certain  observations  with  respect 
to  the  subject  that  your  Committee  feels  it  to  be  its  duty  to 
make. 

As  a  concession  and  in  order  to  obtain  the  enactment  of 
Chapter  152  of  the  Laws  of  1894,  extending  Riverside  Park  to 
the  Central  Park  Commissioners  Bulkhead  Line,  the  West  End 
Association  was  compelled  to  submit  to  the  exception  of  two 
parcels  for  commercial  purposes,  one  at  79th  Street  and  the 
other  at  96th  Street,  to  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Dock 
Department.  A  most  extraordinary  situation  now  results  and 
will  doubtless  be  greatly  accentuated  in  the  future  should  con- 
ditions with  respect  to  the  use  of  these  two  parcels  be  carried 
into  effect  in  accordance  with  the  proposed  plans. 

According  to  these  plans  there  is  no  street  betzveen  79th 
Street  and  59th  Street  over  which  there  is  any  access  to  the 
river  front  or  to  any  piers  for  hauling  purposes,  such  as  the  re- 
moval of  garbage  and  the  distribution  of  building  material. 
With  reference  to  the  streets  below  79th  Street  the  Special  Com- 
mittee of  the  Board  of  Estimate  in  its  report  of  October  3rd, 
1912,  said: 


23 


"12.  Real  estate  adjustment  in  the  60th  street  yard. 

The  City  owns  the  beds  of  Twelfth  Avenue  and  the  cross 
streets,  which  the  Railroad  Company  proposes  to  acquire  for  its 
yard  purposes  at  this  point.  Your  Committee  recommends  that 
here,  too,  the  Railroad  Company  be  given  a  permanent  easement 
for  railroad  purposes,  rather  than  a  fee.  At  the  present  time 
most  of  the  land  is  actually  occupied  by  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral's yard  tracks.  The  Company  has  not,  however,  clear  title 
to  the  land  lying  in  the  beds  of  the  streets  crossing  the  yard. 
This  condition  presents  a  checkerboard  type  of  ownership  which, 
while  of  no  practical  advantage  to  the  City,  is  unnecessarily  bur- 
densome upon  the  railroad.  It  is  the  opinion  of  your  Commit- 
tee that  the  control  of  the  land  lying  within  the  limits  of  this 
yard  should  be  in  the  Railroad  Company,  and  that  to  this  end 
the  railroad  be  given  a  permanent  easement  for  railroad  purposes 
which  will  permit  it  to  make  the  necessary  permanent  improve- 
ments at  this  important  freight  distributing  point." 

Your  Committee  also  calls  the  attention  of  the  Association 
to  the  large  amount  of  waterfront,  including  street  ends,  that 
it  is  proposed  to  place  under  the  control  of  the  Railroad  at  the 
Manhattanville  yards.  As  a  result  of  being  deprived  of  access 
to  the  waterfront  between  Manhattanville  and  59th  Street,  ex- 
cept at  79th  Street  and  96th  Street,  an  enormous  development 
of  traffic  has  been  converged  at  these  two  points..  At  both  79th 
Street  and  96th  Street  are  garbage  dumps,  and  to  these  points, 
especially  at  79th  Street,  large  quantities  of  garbage,  ashes  and 
other  refuse  are  removed,  including  excavated  material  from 
building  operations;  while  great  quantities  of  building  and  other 
heavy  material  are  landed  at  these  docks  and  thence  removed 
to  various  parts  of  the  City  by  wagons  and  auto-trucks.  For 
some  time  past  large  quantities  of  sand  and  gravel  and  other 
material  for  concrete  to  be  used  by  the  Aqueduct  contractors 
have  been  landed  at  79th  Street,  and  powerful  auto-trucks  car- 
rying several  tons  at  a  load  are  engaged  during  the  day  and 
throughout  the  night  in  conveying  this  material  to  different  parts 
of  the  City.  The  dirt  and  confusion  resulting  from  this  traffic 
constitutes  if  possible  a  greater  nuisance  than  that  of  the  rail- 
road. 

High  Coal  Structure  Now  Erected  at  96th  Street. 

At  96th  Street  in  addition  to  the  garbage  dump  and  handling 
of  building  materials,  there  are  a  number  of  large  and  unsightly 


24 


coal-pockets  where  an  enormous  traffic  in  the  merchandising 
of  coal  is  carried  on.  At  this  point  there  has  been  erected  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Dock  Department  one  of  the  most  un- 
sightly concrete  coal-pockets  that  can  anywhere  be  seen.  More- 
over, the  premises  surrounding  it  are  littered  with  obsolete  and 
discarded  coal  wagons  and  other  material  and  present  a  most 
unsightly  appearance.  There  is  also  located  here  a  stable  where 
horses  used  in  the  coal  traffic  are  stabled.  Not  only  are  these 
coal-pockets  and  the  enormous  piles  of  sand  and  gravel  at  79th 
Street,  together  with  the  great  mass  of  unused  wagons  and 
materials  with  which  both  premises  are  littered,  an  illustration 
of  what  may  result  under  color  of  a  commercial  use  of  the  water- 
front with  jurisdiction  vested  in  the  Dock  Department,  but  they 
constitute  an  exhibition  to  all  of  the  visitors,  domestic  and  for- 
eign, to  the  City  of  New  York  to  what  the  City  of  New  York 
and  its  inhabitants  are  willing  not  only  to  tolerate  but  to  sanc- 
tion. Moreover,  upon  every  visitation  of  our  own  or  any  for- 
eign fleet  which  chooses  to  utilize  the  North  River  anchorage, 
there  is  displayed  to  them  not  only  these  unsightly  uses,  but  they 
are  exposed  to  and  sleep  in  the  odor  of  the  garbage  dumped  at 
these  two  points  by  municipal  sanction.  This  condition  exists 
either  in  conformity  with  or  in  total  disregard  of  the  provisions 
of  Chapter  152  of  the  Laws  of  1894  extending  Riverside  Park, 
as  heretofore  explained,  contained  in  Section  9  thereof  as  follows: 

"But  no  portion  of  the  said  lands,  bulkhead  or  waterfront 
herein  set  apart  for  commercial  or  dock  purposes  shall  be  de- 
voted to  any  other  use  or  purpose,  and  no  building,  shed  or 
any  other  structure  shall  be  placed  upon  or  within  the  same, 
which  shall  in  any  manner  be  detrimental  to  the  health  of  the 
public  or  injuriously  affect  the  public  use  and  enjoyment  of 
said  Riverside  Park  as  hereby  extended,  or  property  fronting 
thereon,  or  be  in  any  other  respect  a  public  or  private  nuisance." 

Your  Committee  can  discern  no  reason  why  these  structures 
and  this  traffic  should  not  be  eliminated  from  79th  Street  and 
96th  Street  and  access  for  the  purposes  thereof  restored  to  the 
City  of  New  York  over  the  various  streets  running  to  the  North 
River  below  72nd  Street  and  at  Manhattanville. 

The  Proposed  Disposition  of  the  North  River  V/aterfront  Is  Rad- 
ically Different  From  That  Advocated  for  Other  City  Property. 

The  attention  of  the  Association  is  further  drawn  to  the 
fact  that  very   recently   the   Dock   Department   has  publicly 

25 


advocated  the  control  by  the  City  of  New  York  of  its  water- 
front and  terminal  facilities,  going  so  far  in  this  direction  as 
to  recommend  the  purchase  by  the  City  of  the  Bush  Terminal, 
recently  constructed  by  private  owners,  and  such  recommenda- 
tion has  actually  been  favored  by  a  Special  Committee  of  the 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  some  of  whose  members 
are  also  members  of  the  Committee  having  this  matter  in  charge. 
The  Dock  Commissioner  has  further  advocated  the  erection  of 
an  elevated  freight  railroad  below  60th  Street,  to  be  constructed 
by  the  City  with  City  funds  and  to  be  leased  for  operation  to 
the  New  York  Central  Railroad.  In  its  report  of  October  3rd, 
1912,  the  Special  Committee  having  these  plans  under  consider- 
ation stated  that  on  November  2nd,  1911,  the  Dock  Commis- 
sioner had  submitted  a  critical  report  outlining  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  waterfront  control  which  he  considered  should  be 
adopted  by  the  City,  and  pointing  out  in  what  particulars  the 
plans  submitted  by  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  Company 
failed  to  carry  out  those  principles;  that  it  was  the  opinion  of 
the  Dock  Department  that  the  City  should  retain  control  of  a 
continuous  waterfront  strip  at  no  point  less  than  100  feet  in 
width  and  at  certain  strategic  points  not  less  than  150  feet  in 
width,  which  views  were  adopted  by  the  Special  Committee. 
Whatever  of  soundness  there  may  be  in  the  principle  of  munici- 
pal ownership  and  control  of  waterfront  and  terminal  facilities 
and  in  the  purchase  of  certain  facilities  as  the  Bush  Terminal, 
your  Committee  has  been  unable  to  perceive  why  this  principle 
should  cease  to  operate  when  60th  Street  is  reached,  and  the 
enormously  valuable  terminal  and  waterfront  facilities  from  that 
point  northward  to  the  City  line  are  placed  irrevocably  and 
irretrievably  under  the  dominion  of  the  New  York  Central  & 
Hudson  River  Railroad  Company. 

If  there  is  any  force  whatever  in  the  contention  that  the 
City  should  own  and  control  its  waterfront  and  terminal  facili- 
ties and  in  particular  should  be  the  purchaser  of  the  Bush 
Terminal  in  order  to  give  effect  to  such  policy,  your  Committee 
sees  no  reason  why  that  principle  should  not  apply  to  the  enor- 
mously valuable  waterfront  and  terminal  facilities  on  the  west- 
erly side  of  Manhattan  Island  and  extending  northward  to  the 
City  line,  and  lying  alongside  the  port  of  call  of  the  new  thou- 
sand ton  barge  canal  at  Dyckman  Street;  built  by  the  State  at 
an  outlay  in  excess  of  $100,000,000. 


26 


The  Diversion  of  Park  Lands  to  Railroad  and  Commercial  Uses 
Would  Be  a  Breach  of  Faith  With  Property  Owners  and 
Residents,  and  an  Infringement  of  Property  Rights. 

Your  Committee  desires  to  revert  again  to  the  fact  that  the 
land  which  it  is  now  proposed  to  convert  into  a  railroad  yard 
from  72nd  Street  northward  is  held  in  trust  by  the  City  of  New 
York  for  park  purposes,  pursuant  to  Chapter  152  of  the  Laws  of 
1894,  and  the  proceedings  taken  thereunder.  Upon  the  faith  of 
this  condition  millions  of  dollars  have  gone  into  the  improve- 
ment of  property  along  Riverside  Drive  and  in  the  territory 
to  which  this  Association  is  particularly  devoted,  and  many  thou- 
sands of  people  have  been  led  to  make  their  homes  within  such 
district  by  reason  thereof.  We  have  already  called  attention  to 
the  opinion  of  Mr.  Goodrich  with  respect  to  the  effect  of  this 
change  in  condition  upon  the  territory  north  of  72nd  Street. 
It  is  the  view  of  your  Committee  that  the  City  has  no  moral  right 
to  convert  the  property  held  in  trust  for  park  purposes  to  a  rail- 
road use  even  upon  the  receipt  of  a  monetary  consideration; 
that  not  only  would  it  constitute  a  breach  of  faith  with  all  of 
those  who  have  acquired  property  and  made  valuable  improve- 
ments and  those  who  have  come  into  the  neighborhood,  but  that 
it  would  constitute  an  actual  breach  of  trust  on  the  part  of  the 
City  of  New  York  in  diverting  to  railroad  yard  uses  the  prop- 
erty now  held  in  trust  for  park  uses ;  and  that  at  the  suit  of  any 
or  all  of  the  owners  of  property  abutting  upon  Riverside  Park 
both  the  City  of  New  York  and  the  New  York  Central  &  Hud- 
son River  Railroad  would  be  adjudged  liable  for  the  depreciation 
of  value  of  such  property  owners;  that  the  trust  created  in  the 
City  of  New  York  constitutes  a  contract  between  the  City  and 
such  abutting  property  owners,  the  obligation  of  which  both 
the  City  and  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  are  pro- 
hibited from  impairing  by  the  contract  clause  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States. 

The  Proposed  Solid  Roof  Is  an  Insufficient  Protection  Against  the 

Railroad  Use. 

Even  if  this  were  not  so  and  assuming  the  best  of  inten- 
tions on  the  part  of  present  and  future  managements  of  the 
New  York  Central,  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  the  discipline 
of  train  crews  could  be  so  maintained  as  to  prevent  the  storage 
upon  this  large  number  of  tracks  northward  of  72nd  Street, 

27 


which  are  leads  to  the  stockyards  at  60th  Street,  of  quantities 
of  cars  and  trains  containing  hogs,  sheep,  cattle  and  other  live 
stock  and  freight  emitting  objectionable  odors;  and  that  not- 
withstanding the  roofing  proposed  to  be  placed  over  the  said 
tracks,  the  necessary  circulation  of  air  currents  under  the  south- 
erly end  and  along  the  westerly  side  of  this  roof  would  result 
m  the  odors  from  such  traffic  being  wafted  over  the  entire  resi- 
dential district.  Moreover,  in  this  connection  your  Committee 
has  been  advised  by  competent  landscape  architects  and  engineers 
that  the  soil  underneath  the  water  northward  of  72nd  Street  is 
of  such  a  character  that  the  expense  of  construction  of  the 
character  required  to  support  such  a  roof  would  be  almost  pro- 
hibitive, and  it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  such  roof,  even 
if  now  agreed  upon,  would  be  found  to  be  practicable  of  erec- 
tion; and  in  this  view  the  fact  cannot  be  lost  sight  of  that  the 
Act  authorises  that  the  plans  and  profiles  may  at  any  time  be 
amended  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  on  the 
application  of  the  Railroad,  without  notice.  From  the  same 
source  your  Committee  is  advised  that  even  if  such  roof  were 
erected  with  strength  and  provision  for  carrying  four  feet  of 
soil,  it  would  be  practically  impossible  to  maintain  vegetation 
thereupon;  this  results  from  the  fact  that  the  vegetation  is  ex- 
posed to  the  rigor  of  winter  and  the  heat  of  summer  not  only 
on  the  upper,  but  also  on  the  lower  side;  and  that  under  such 
conditions  experience  has  demonstrated  that  plant  life  cannot 
exist. 

Conceding  all  that  may  be  claimed  for  the  necessity  of 
additional  and  permanent  facilities  for  the  New  York  Central 
and  that  it  is  most  desirable  that  "the  greatest  seaport  on  the 
continent"  should  have  facilities  for  handling  commerce  com- 
mensurate with  its  greatness,  your  Committee  is  unable  to  per- 
ceive why  either  the  commerce  of  the  port,  the  abatement  of  the 
present  railroad  nuisance  or  the  acquisition  of  permanent  term- 
inal facilities  by  the  New  York  Central  should  be  accomplished 
by  the  spoliation  of  Riverside  Park  or  of  the  destruction  of 
property  values  that  the  proposed  plans  and  intended  agreement 
import. 

So  far  as  Riverside  Park  is  concerned  it  seems  to  your  Com- 
mittee that  every  consideration  of  public  spiritedness,  generosity 
and  fairness  toward  the  New  York  Central,  the  Port  of  the  City 
of  New  York  and  the  commerce  of  the  Nation  entering  through 


28 


such  port  and  transported  over  such  railroad  would  be  amply 
satisfied  by  granting  to  the  railroad  an  easement  for  four  tracks 
from  72nd  Street  northward,  the  construction  thereof  as  well 
as  the  carrying  of  the  park  surface  over  the  same  and  the  neces- 
sary filling  and  landscaping  of  the  park  to  be  done  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  railroad,  and  taking  from  the  railroad  the  neces- 
sary rights  of  access  to  the  waterfront  over  streets  below  72nd 
Street,  to  which  the  commercial  traffic  now  carried  at  79th  Street 
and  96th  Street  should  be  transferred. 

Lands  Now  Being  Filled  In. 

In  concluding  this  report  your  Committee  desires  that  the 
Association  should  understand  that  for  some  time  past  under 
permission  granted  by  the  Park  Commissioner  the  contractors 
excavating  for  the  new  subways  and  the  Aqueduct  tunnel  have 
been  dumping  the  excavated  material  northward  of  79th  Street 
and  southerly  of  129th  Street,  filling  in  the  waterfront  at  these 
points  out  to  what  appears  to  be  the  bulkhead  line;  and  this 
filling  in  has  proceeded  now  so  that  several  blocks  northwardly 
of  79th  Street  and  southwardly  of  129th  Street  are  already  filled 
in.  Your  Committee  is  informed  that  this  permission  was 
granted  to  the  contractors  gratuitously  by  the  Park  Commis- 
sioner, and  so  far  as  the  contractors  are  concerned  it  operates 
to  save  them  the  expense  of  removing  the  excavated  material, 
which  is  ordinarily  about  60  cents  per  load.  The  total  amount 
of  excavated  material  that  may  be  filled  in  under  this  permission 
amounts  in  the  aggregate,  your  Committee  is  informed,  to  about 
2,000,000  cubic  yards.  Moreover,  it  will  readily  occur  to  the 
members  of  the  Association  that  when  this  filling  in  has  been 
completed,  which  the  observation  of  your  Committee  shows  to 
be  on  a  level  with  the  present  tracks  of  the  New  York  Central, 
that  a  right  of  way  would  not  only  have  already  been  provided 
for  the  New  York  Central,  but  the  filling  in  actually  have  been 
done. 

As  to  the  Dock  Commissioner's  plan  for  a  marginal  strip 
100  to  150  feet  in  width  reserved  for  commercial  purposes  and 
running  the  full  length  of  Riverside  Park,  recommended  in  his 
report  of  November  2nd,  1911,  and  shown  on  the  maps  and 
plans  submitted  therewith,  it  seems  almost  incredible  to  your 
Committee  that  the  Special  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Estimate 
and  Apportionment  could  have  consciously  adopted  it;  yet  in 

29 


its  report  of  October  3rd,  1912,  that  Committee  states  that  it 
"has  adopted  the  view  of  the  Dock  Commissioner  and  has  insisted 
upon  and  secured  a  modification  of  the  plans  as  filed  so  as  to 
obtain  this  important  result." 

Further  than  mere  mention  of  the  fact  that  the  yards  at 
72nd  Street  lead  to  a  stockyard  at  60th  Street  and  to  large 
terminal  stores  and  markets  at  60th  Street,  your  Committee  feels 
that  no  further  mention  is  necessary  and  respectfully  submits 
this  report  for  such  action,  if  any,  as  the  Association  may  deem 
proper. 

This  report  is  concurred  in  by  Messrs.  James  A.  Deering, 
Joseph  A.  Arnold,  Charles  W.  Lefler  and  Thomas  P.  McKenna; 
being  the  only  members  of  the  Committee  who  have  participated 
in  the  labor  imposed  upon  it. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

CHARLES  L.  CRAIG, 

Chairman. 


30 


APPENDIX  A. 


PETITION  OF  WEST  END  ASSOCIATION  AND  PROCEED- 
INGS FOR  EXTENSIONS  OF  RIVERSIDE  PARK  WESTERLY 
OF  HUDSON  RIVER  RAILROAD. 

PETITION  TO  THE  BOARD  OF  STREET  OPENING  AND 
IMPROVEMENT. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Street  Opening  and  Improvement,  held 
at  the  Mayor's  Office  on  Friday,  November  17,  1893,  at  11  o'clock  A.  M., 
pursuant  to  notice,  the  following  petition  was  presented : 
To  the  Honorable  the  Board  of  Street  Opening  and  Improvement  of  the 

City  of  New  York: 
Gentlemen  : 

The  undersigned,  property-owners  in  and  residents  of  the  West  Side, 
'respectfully  request  that  the  westerly  boundary  of  Riverside  Park  be 
extended  to  the  bulkhead  line  on  the  Hudson  River,  as  established  by 
Chapter  288,  Laws  of  1868,  or  as  nearly  thereto  as  may  seem  advisable, 
and  that  in  connection  therewith  provision  be  made  for  the  roadway  of 
the  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company  and  such  suitable  docks  or  piers 
as  may  be  deemed  to  be  necessary  at  or  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Seventy-ninth 
and  Ninety-sixth  Streets,  not  to  exceed  one  block  frontage  on  either  side 
of  the  said  Seventy-ninth  and  Ninety-sixth  Streets,  the  only  streets  which 
afford  access  to  the  river  front. 

Your  petitioners  respectfully  represent  that  immediate  action  to  this 
end  is  not  only  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  park  and  the  property 
fronting  thereon,  but  for  the  security  of  the  entire  West  Side  lying  be- 
tween Riverside  and  Central  Parks. 

The  Riverside  Park,  by  reason  of  its  location,  if  improved  and  pro- 
tected from  nuisances  along  the  river  front,  will  be  the  most  beautiful 
park  in  the  city,  affording  means  for  public  recreation  and  enjoyment  not 
elsewhere  possible.  More  than  twenty-five  years  have  passed  since  the 
park  was  laid  out  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  Central  Park,  and  more 
than  twenty-one  years  since  the  City  acquired  title  to  the  land  at  an  ex- 
pense of  $6,000,000,  and  yet  but  a  small  portion  of  the  land  thus  acquired 
has  been  improved  so  as  to  be  capable  of  public  use.  West  of  the  main 
,drive  nothing  more  than  temporary  provision  has  been  made,  and  the 
public  is  still  deprived  of  its  use  and  enjoyment,  and  the  property-owners 
in  its  vicinity  of  those  benefits  for  which  an  assessment  of  over  $3,000,000 
was  imposed  in  the  year  1872. 

We  believe  that  the  principal  reason  for  this  delay  on  the  part  of 
the  public  authorities  to  complete  the  Park,  and  of  the  hesitation  and 


31 


refusal  of  owners  to  improve  their  property,  is  that  in  front  of  the  Park 
is  a  large  strip  of  land,  lying  originally  below  high-water  mark  and  now 
partly  made  land,  set  apart  for  no  public  use  or  purpose,  has  been  a  con- 
stant menace  to  owners  and  investors,  and  without  which  no  permanent 
plan  for  the  completion  of  the  Park  can  be  carried  into  effect.  It  is  not 
needed,  and  can  never  be  made  useful  for  commercial  purposes.  The 
greater  part  of  it  is  owned  by  the  City,  but  the  portion  not  so  owned 
may  be  and  can  be  at  any  time  devoted  to  uses  for  business,  or  otherwise, 
which  would  destroy  not  only  the  beauty  and  advantages  of  the  Park 
for  public  use.  but  be  a  great  and  irreparable  damage  to  the  property 
adjacent  thereto  and  upon  all  the  intersecting  streets  connecting  with  it 
Already  a  portion  of  the  land  has  been  appropriated  for  purposes  and 
uses  of  this  character,  and  others  are  threatened,  which,  for  the  want  of 
early  action,  may  be  more  offensive  and  detrimental  to  the  health,  comfort 
and  convenience  of  the  residents  in  that  part  of  the  City  than  any  now 
existing  upon  any  other  portion  of  the  water-front  of  the  City. 

Your  petitioners  earnestly  request  that  definite  action  be  taken  at  as 
early  a  date  as  possible  toward  fixing  the  permanent  lines  of  the  Park 
or  the  character  of  the  improvement  of  the  river,  for  the  constant  discus- 
sion and  agitation  in  relation  thereto  has  heretofore,  and  if  continued  will 
hereafter,  until  it  is  settled  by  appropriate  action  of  your  Honorable 
Board,  deter  improvements  upon  or  in  the  vicinity,  and  retard  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Park  itself. 

Dated.  New  York.  October  2,  1S93. 

Cyrus  Clark, 
President,  West  End  Association. 

G.  B.  Sheppard, 

Secretary.  West  End  Association. 


Mr.  Cyrus  Clark  and  Mr.  James  A.  Deering  spoke  in  earnest  support 
of  the  petition,  urging  the  Board's  favorable  consideration  of  the  matter. 

After  some  discussion,  the  Mayor  offered  the  following:' 

Whereas,  The  Board  of  Street  Opening  and  Improvement  do  approve 
of,  in  a  general  way,  the  sentiments  and  opinions  set  forth  in  a  petition 
presented  to  this  Board,  relating  to  the  water-front  along  Riverside  Park; 

Resolved,  That  the  said  petition  be  referred  to  the  Department  of 
Public  Parks,  with  the  request  that  a  conference  be  held  with  property- 
owners  and  with  the  Department  of  Docks,  for  the  formation  of  some 
suitable  plan,  to  be  submitted  to  this  Board,  for  the  protection  of  the 
several  interests. 

Which  was  adopted  by  the  following  vote : 

Affirmative — The  Mayor,  the  Comptroller,  the  Commissioner  of  Public 
Works,  the  President  of  the  Department  of  Public  Parks,  and  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Aldermen — 5. 

(The  foregoing  petition  was  signed  by  several  thousand  property- 
owners  and  residents  of  the  West  Side.) 


32 


APPENDIX  B. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  BOARD  OF  STREET  OPENING  AXD  IM- 
PROVEMENT UPON  PETITION. 


The  Board  of  Street  Opening  and  Improvement  met  at  the  Mayor's 
Office  on  Friday,  January  5,  1894,  at  11  o'clock  A.  M.,  pursuant  to  notice. 

The  following  report  from  the  Department  of  Public  Parks,  relating 
to  the  water-front  along  Riverside  Park,  was  presented  and  read: 

City  of  New  York 
Department  of  Public  Parks 
Nos.  49  and  51  Chambers  Street 

Commissioners'  Office,  December  22,  1893. 
To  the  Board  of  Street  Opening  and  Improvement : 

Gentlemen  : — In  the  matter  of  the  petition  relating  to  the  water-front 
along  Riverside  Park,  which  accompanied  a  communication  from  your 
Secretary,  dated  November  20,  1893,  transmitting  a  copy  of  preamble  and 
resolution  of  your  Board  of  the  17th  ultimo,  referring  the  said  petition 
to  this  Department  and  requesting  that  a  conference  be  held  with  property- 
owners  and  the  Department  of  Docks  with  a  view  to  the  preparation  of  a 
suitable  plan  for  the  protection  of  the  several  interests  involved,  I  am 
directed  to  state  that  at  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Parks,  held  on  the  20th 
ultimo,  a  conference  was  held  with  property-owners  who  appeared  in  re- 
sponse to  a  notice  of  a  public  hearing,  representing  the  West  Side  Asso- 
ciation and  other  property-owners,  and  Commissioner  Phelan,  representing 
the  Department  of  Docks.  As  a  result  of  the  conference  the  following 
resolutions,  which  met  with  the  approval  of  all  the  parties  present,  were 
adopted  by  the  Commissioners  of  Public  Parks: 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  the  plan  for  the  extension  of  Riverside 
Park  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  approved  as  follows  : 

The  westerly  boundary  of  said  Park  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  ex- 
tended to  the  bulkhead  line  of  the  Hudson  River,  as  established  by  Chap- 
ter 288,  of  the  Laws  of  1868,  except  that  the  lands  required  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  Dock  Department  at  Seventy-ninth  and  Ninety-sixth  Streets 
be  excluded  therefrom,  to-wit :  eight  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  at 
Ninety-sixth  Street  and  one  thousand  one  hundred  feet  at  Seventy-ninth, 
and  Seventy-ninth  and  Ninety-sixth  Street  in  each  case  to  be  the  centre  of 
said  dock  property,  and  that  all  the  lands  now  owned  by  the  City  and 


33 


private  owners  (the  latter  to  be  acquired)  be  set  apart  for  the  extension 
of  said  Park  and  wharves  as  aforesaid. 

Resolved,  That  a  plan  be  prepared  by  the  Engineer  of  this  Department 
in  accordance  with  the  lines  established  as  aforesaid,  to  be  submitted  to  the 
Board  of  Street  Opening  and  Improvement. 

Pursuant  to  the  instructions  contained  in  the  foregoing  resolutions, 
the  Engineer  of  the  Department  has  prepared  a  plan,  which  is  forwarded 
herewith.    I  also  return  the  petition,  and  am, 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

Charles  de  F.  Burns, 
Secretary,  Department  of  Public  Parks. 


After  some  discussion  of  the  subject  and  a  careful  revision  of  the 
map  or  plan  submitted,  the  matter  was  finally  laid  over  until  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Board,  and  the  Secretary  was  directed  to  ask  for  the 
attendance  at  such  meeting  of  some  representative  of  the  Dock  Depart- 
ment, and  also  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  Railroad 
Company. 


Meeting  of  January  12,  1894. 

The  Board  of  Street  Opening  and  Improvement  met  at  the  Mayor's 
Office  on  Friday,  January  12,  1894,  at  11  o'clock,  pursuant  to  notice. 

The  matter  of  the  proposed  extension  of  Riverside  Park  was  then 
taken  up. 

Mr.  Beekman  appeared  on  behalf  of  property-owners,  Mr.  Loomis 
on  behalf  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company, 
and  Commissioner  Phelan  on  behalf  of  Dock  Department. 

No  objection  to  the  plan  submitted  by  the  Department  of  Public 
Parks  having  been  raised,  the  Mayor  offered  the  following  resolution: 

Resolved,  That  the  plan  for  the  extension  of  Riverside  Park  to  the 
bulkhead  line  in  the  Hudson  River,  as  shown  upon  a  map  entitled  "Map 
showing  the  proposed  extension  of  Riverside  Park,  westerly  from  the 
New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company,  to  the  bulkhead 
line,  as  established  by  Chapter  258,  of  the  Laws  of  1868,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  lands  required  for  the  purpose  of  the  Department  of  Docks  at 
Seventy-ninth  Street  and  Ninety-sixth  Street,"  dated  December  1,  1893, 
and  signed  "M.  A.  Kellogg,  Engineer  of  Construction,  Department  Public 
Parks,"  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  approved  by  this  Board,  and  that  said 
map  be  filed  with  the  records  of  this  Board. 

Resolved,  That  application  be  made  to  the  Legislature  for  the  neces- 
sary authority  to  give  effect  to  said  plan. 

Which  was  adopted  by  the  following  vote: 

Affirmative — The  Mayor,  the  Comptroller,  the  Commissioner  of  Public 
Works,  the  President  of  the  Department  of  Public  Parks,  the  President 
of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 


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Thereupon  the  following  petition  was  presented  to  the  Legislature: 
of"the  State  of  New  York: 

Petition  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  of  the  West  End. 
Association  and  the  Riverside  Park  Property-Owners'  Association  for 
the  passage  of  a  law  providing  for  the  improvement  of  the  land  and 
water  front  adjacent  to  Riverside  Park,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  by 
extending  and  improving  said  Park  and  regulating  the  use  of  said 
land  and  water  front. 

To  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York: 

The  West  End  Association,  composed  of  residents  and  owners  of  real 
estate  at  the  West  End  of  the  City  of  New  York,  organized  for  mutual 
protection,  in  aid  of  good  government,  and  for  the  improvement  and  de- 
velopment of  that  section  of  the  City,  respectfully  represent  to  your 
honorably  body: 

That,  considering  the  vital,  material,  local  and  general  interests  in- 
volved, no  more  important  measure  relating  to  the  City  of  New  York  will 
be  presented  for  your  consideration  than  that  for  the  legislative  ratifica- 
tion of  the  plan  agreed  on  between  the  municipal  authorities  and  the 
property-owners  interested,  for  the  protection  and  preservation  of  the 
water  front  adjacent  to  Riverside  Park  from  objectionable  and  injurious 
uses,  and  the  extension  and  improvement  of  the  Park  for  the  general 
public  benefit. 

(Here  follows  several  pages  of  facts  relating  to  Riverside  Park  and: 
its  relation  to  the  West  Side,  grouped  under  the  following  sub-heads)  : 

RIVERSIDE  PARK  AND  ITS  GREAT  COST  TO  PROPERTY 

OWNERS. 

GENERAL  GRANTS'  TOMB  IN  THE  PARK. 

DESECRATION  OF  THE  WATER  FRONT. 

APPROVAL  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  ESTIMATE  AND  APPORTION- 
MENT OF  A  PLAN  OF  IMPROVEMENT. 

COMMISSION  OF  CITIZENS  APPOINTED  TO  IMPROVE  THE. 
WATER  FRONT. 

PROFESSIONAL  VIEWS  AS  TO  THE  WATER  FRONT. 

THE  CLAIMS  OF  THE  WEST  END: 

THE  QUESTION  OF  COMMERCIAL  NEEDS. 

A  PLAN  FINALLY  AGREED  UPON  WITH  THE  CITY 
AUTHORITIES. 

On  November  20.  such  conference  was  had  which  resulted  in  an 
agreement  that  was  embodied  in  a  resolution  unanimously  adopted  by  the 


35 


Commissioners  of  Parks,  which  was  transmitted  to  the  Board  of  Street 
Opening  and  Improvement.  On  January  12,  1894,  this  Board  approved 
of  the  plan  agreed  upon  and  recommended  that  the  necessary  legislation 
be  asked  for  to  carry  it  into  effect. 

The  bill  which  will  be  submitted  for  your  consideration  is  drawn  in 
accordance  with  this  arrangement.  We  annex  the  petition  of  the  owners 
of  the  property,  the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Street  Opening  and  Im- 
provement, and  some  extracts  from  the  daily  press  of  the  City,  to  show 
how  fully  all  interests  are  united  in  favor  of  this  vital  protection  and 
improvement. 

We  earnestly  appeal  for  prompt  action  by  your  honorable  body  in 
the  premises. 

And  your  petitioners,  etc. 

New  York,  January  22,  1894. 

THE  WEST  END  ASSOCIATION. 

Cyrus  Clark,  President. 

To  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York: 

The  Riverside  Park  Property  Owners'  Association  unite  in  this  peti- 
tion and  earnestly  request  that  the  bill  will  receive  your  early  attention 
and  approval. 

New  York,  January  22,  1894. 

THE  RIVERSIDE  PARK  PROPERTY  ' 
OWNERS'  ASSOCIATION, 

Samuel  G.  Bayne,  President. 

(In  response  to  this  petition  the  Legislature  thereupon  enacted  Chap. 
152  of  the  Laws  of  1894,  extending  Riverside  Park  from  the  westerly 
side  of  the  railroad  tracks  to  the  Park  Commissioners'  bulkhead  line.) 


36 


